murray



Feb. 7, 1956 A. E. MURRAY 2,733,523

SHOE SOLE Filed oct.;30, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR Alan E. Murray ATTO EY Feb. 7, 1956 A. E. MURRAY SHOE SOLE Filed Oct. 50, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR .Alan E. Murray ATTOR when set.

United States Patent 2,733,523 anon SOLE Alan E. Murray, Ncw York, N. Y. Application October 30, 1952, Serial No. 317,627

4 Claims. (Cl. 368.5)

My invention relates particularly to a sole for shoes.

An object of my invention is to provide a new and effective type of sole as well as an advantageous method of obtaining and applying the sole. A further object is to employ wet soling in the formation and application of shoe soles from a formable medium so that the soling can be produced and applied with great ease and expedition to any shoe or type of shoes, and so that the sole has the dynamic property of reshaping or adapting itself to any shape or size of foot-wear, having a permanent flexible bond .with the shoe providing wearing properties as great as or greater than other previous types of soles. Added or lessened heights of the sole and heel can also be readily attained thereby as to either one or both feet, so as to provide the most effective stance for each individual foot. This provides a plastic method in shoe soling generally, also, on any one of my types of shoes. This is made possible by utilizing a type of material for the sole having a readily determinable initial size, thickness and shape, which in the process of applying the same acquires a moldable shape that can be as easily controlled as a piece of wet dough.

Furthermore, theprocess results in producing a sole which not only holds its form externally, but which also retains its internal structure including air pockets, When the latex has set, so that the fibres and the felt do not pack under pressure when applied thereto, but will elastically return to their initial positions when any pressure is relieved or lessened. This is due, also, to the air pockets, some of which are interconnected, that are formed within the set foraminous elastic structure of the latex-treated fibrous materials. The individual adjacent fibres also become interlocked by the vulcanized rubber of the latex In the case of the felt, this effect will be increased and accentuated by the interlocking spiny character of the wool fibres which are present. These results are aided and established during the process by the latex-impregnated fabric being subjected to pressure,by' being wrung out While Wet, to lessen or eliminate remaining interstitial liquid and thus form an effective grouping, of passages and air pockets, some of which are permanently connected together,-when the remaining latex in the fabric around the fibres has set into a mass of vulcanized rubber-coated and interlocked fibres. Because of, this structure it is not necessary to provide the shoe with'ventilatingperforations laterally through the wall of the upper, because there is an absence of any tendency to produce condensation of the atmospheric and/ or bodily fmoisture on the interior of the shoe. This very beneficial effect is due mainly to the groups of air pockets, some of which are interconnected, acting as an effective heat insulation against the cooler temperatures of the ground.

Also, the shoe sole is waterproof because of the set rubber whichcoats the fibres and because of the outer envelopes enclosing and sealing the interlocked fibres and air pockets of the sole.

,The sole can be made quickly and applied more cheap- -l ythanother types of soles, and'so as to attain thereby M 2,733,523 Patented F b- 1956 separately formed units enclosed in fabric envelopes applied to the sole of a shoe,' shown in this instance as made of leather; p

Fig. 2 isan underneath view of the relative position of the sole piece and the heel piece;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a piece of sheet material, such as felt, for example, from which the absorbent sole piece is to be cut out;

Fig. 4 is a similar plan view of similar material, from which the heel piece wedge is to be cut out;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a sheet of terry cloth having the sole piece resting thereon after impregnation of the terry cloth and felt with latex;

Fig. 6 is a similar View of a piece of terry cloth having the heel piece resting thereon after a similar impregnation of the cloth and felt with latex; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the margin of the cloth envelope folded up over the sole piece after making a plurality of tucks, not extending to the edge of the sole, which are then cut off to make meeting edges;

Fig. 8 is a similar View showing the cloth envelope folded up similarly over the heel piece;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section of the sole piece or heel piece takenon line 99 of Fig. 7 or of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modification in which the sole piece and'heelpiece are enclosed in a single envelope and applied to the shoe together; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 9.

In carrying out my invention, referring first to Figs. 1 to 9, I preferably provide a sheet or body of material 1 which may be of an absorbent moldable material. For this purpose I preferably provide a sheet of felt, comprised of loosely felted fibres, which may be of reclaimed Woolsuch, for example as the loosely felted carpet padding such as is placed beneath carpets or rugs. However, is to be understood that many other materials of a fibrous nature may be usedfor this purpose instead, such as the felted, scrap or residuefromfiner qualities of feltor clothing, although cotton, rayon, shoddy, fur residues, hair, jute, linen orSpanish moss may be used, by way of example. Furthermore, I havejfound in practice that mixtures of such fibres are particularly advantageous, such as a felt containing 70% by weight of reclaimed wool fibres and 30% of cottonfibres. The sheet of felt 1, if obtained from the usual felted padding for placing under carpets having 1f thickness, is preferably split so as to obtain therefrom, a thicknessof about to /2". 1 preferably use the thickness for persons of heavy weight and the /2" thickness for people oflighter weight I then place a shoe 2, which is to be soled and which may be a leather shoe of the ordinary or conventional type, on top of the sheet of felt I anddraw an outline 3 on the same with a red pencil following around the outside of the leather sole portion 4 from which, preferably, the ground-contacting sole and heel have been pulled off. I then cut out, with scissors, around the line 3, a felt sole piece 5. Similarly, on another sheet of sheet material 6, preferably of the same kind, I make a similar line 7 with a red pencil around the rear portion of the leather sole portion 4 and a diagonal line 8 across the same, as shown in Fig. 4, and thereupon cut out therefrom along said lines 7 and 8 a heel piece wedge 9, which may be tapered vertically towards the front, of the shape shown generally in Figs. 1 and 2- -It will be understood of course that the heel piece wedge 9 may be made from a sheet of thicker material or thinner material as compared with; the sheet of material 1 to attain tl 1e elevatioudesiredfat the rear of .the shoe for the particular person, so that, the right and left shoes of any. particular person may be made; to havethe same orv different heightsas desired. i

Where,'as'shown'in,Fig, 1, the sole piece Sand the heel piece wedge ,9 ,are' to be made with separate envelopes, they are provided, respectively, with envelopes made'frornp ieces of terry cloth hand 11, or any other desired fabricfrnade. of. fibrous. ,material, as, shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The sole piece 5 and heel piece wedge 9 are each then, firstadipped into any latex, but preferably a thin la'tex, 'and'whil'estilhinthe latex pressed downwardly with a spatulalso. that air bubbles will be seen to escape through the latexbath from the felt to secure effective penetration, each of them being removed from the bath of latex and thenrolled into -a roll and wrung out to express latex fromit and thereby form air pockets between thefibres Similarly, the.said two-pieces of cloth 10 and 11 are dipped into. the thin latex, rolled up and wrung out to express or; lessen the excess latex. In. order to make anefiective bond'between the sole piece. 5 and its sheet of cloth 10 and between the heel piece wedge 9 and its. sheet-of cloth 11, one surface of each of thesetwo pieces of felt 5 and 9 is coated with any latex, but preferably thicklatex, by which Imean for example, preferably :afthickened latex as hereinafter referredto, andthereafter said latex coating is dusted over with plaster of Paris from a shaker, after which another coat of a latex, preferably of said thickened lat ex: isthen applied to said surface of each of the said two felt pieces 5 and 9, the plaster of Paris powder placed on the first coating serving to limit the penetration into thefelt of the second coating of latex. For the thicklatex. and thin latex referred to herein I preferably utilize a latex comprising a water-suspension of self-vulcanizing artificialrnbber known as neoprene,

although latex made of natural rubber or any artificial rubber can be used herein. For the thick latex herein I may use the.thickened latex such as referred to in my Patent No 2,568,291, column 5, lines 15 to 55, upon Process of Making Shoes, granted September 18, 1951, which is made, as stated therein, by adding a thickener, such asmethyl cellulose, to the self-vulcanizing watersuspended neoprene latex generally sold under the name latex. Also, in carrying out my process I may use,

also, a thin latex which may be, for example, of any thinner character, and bywhich I mean herein, for instance, the said neoprene latex generally sold under the name latex and from which the said thickened latex is made as above referred to, as set forth in my said Patent No. 2,568,291.

The two pieces of felt 5 and 9 are each now pressed downwardly, respectively, with a spatula on top of their two pieces of terry cloth 10 and 11 respectively with the coated underneath faces of the felt pieces in contact with the cloth. Thereupon, I place a coating of the thick latex on top of each of the two layers of felt 5. and 9 and around the marginal edges of the same, and dust some of the powdered plaster of Paris on top thereof, and apply another coatingof the thick latex in the same way onto each of the said two dusted pieces of felt 5 and 9. I now fold the marginal portions of each of the said two pieces of cloth .10 and.11 over their respective felt pieces Sand 9,so that the cover pieces 10 and 11 seal the surfaces of the felts 5 and 9 and the air pockets therein and I then make tucks in the marginal portions of the terry cloths over the top of the said pieces of felt respectively, but not so as to extend to the edges of the felt pieces SJand .9, see Figs. 7 and 8, and then cut ofi the tucks. so,that vthe felt is completely covered with the folded pprnarginal portions of the cloth, and to provide -.abu,tting, seamsand.straightmeeting edges, as shown of the utmost importance in shoe soles.

in Figs. 7 and 8. In the case of the sole piece 5, there is an abutting longitudinal seam 12, and-at the front approximately seven radial'searns 13, while at the rear there are about four such seams 14, although the number of tucks at the front and the rear may be varied at will. In the case of the heel piece 9, as shown in Fig. 8, there would generally be a central abutting seam 15, about four front marginal seams 16 and about four such marginal seams 17 at the rear. This provides, in effect, what might be called a wet pancake, in the case of the sole portion 5 as well as for the heel piece wedge 9, having the physical characteristics and moldability. substantially like that of wet'dough, in which wet pancakes the latex has not yet set.

In the case where a molded shoe, such as made by any one of my previous known processes, is to be soled, the bonding of the heel piece wedge 9 and the sole piece 5 thereto can be carried out merelytby applying to" the sole of the shoe and tothe heel piece 9 and the sole piece 5 some of the thick latex followed by dustingthe same with plaster of Paris and application of. said pieces 5 and 9 to thesole of the .shoe.

However, in case the leather shoe 2 is to be soled, the leather sole portion 4 is ground on a grinding wheel or with some other abrasive means to produce aroughened surface, and I thereupon applyto said surfacea tacky bonding. material, as for instance neoprene cement, or any other appropriate cement. having, tacky properties suitable for bonding leather to rubber. I then allow the tacky bonding cement to dry somewhat, preferably for about ten minutes, to attain the said effective tacky state. To this cement surface I then apply thicklatex all over the cement and likewise apply thick latex to the top of the envelope 11 of the heel piece wedge 9, the top being the face carrying the cut-off tucks. Likewise, I apply to the top of the envelope 10 of the sole piece 5, the top being the face carrying the cut-off tucks, some of the thick latex, the said surfaces of the envelopes 11 and 10, shown in Figs. 8 and 7, being now also dusted over with plaster of Paris. Thereupon, I turn the shoe 2 upside down and apply thereto the tucked surface of the heel piece wedge 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Now, I apply to the exposed surface of the envelope 11 of the heel piece wedge some of the thick latex followed by a dust? ingwith plaster of Paris and thereon I apply the tucked face of the envelope 10 of the sole piece 5 and press the same downwith a spatula. I then turn the shoe 2 upright and with the fingers press the envelopes ll and 10, carrying within the same the respective pieces of impregnated felt 9 and 5, into place all around and beneath the leather sole portion 4 until there is a complete contact thereof with the said sole 4. When the latex has partly set, which will be in about five minutes, with a brush carrying some of the thin latex, I brush up the nap of the impregnated terry cloth all around the margin and beneath the sole of the shoe. The sole piece 5 and the heel piece wedge 9 and their envelopes 10 and 11 can now be allowed to substantially completely dry in any desired way, for instance in anair current, If desired, this can be expedited by applying heated air, for instance at about the boilingpoint of water, The heat treatment will have the result of making the product somewhat tougher, aiding in its wearing properties.

The product obtained in this way, with or without the heating, will also be not only very tough but will remain quite flexible and on account of its great elasticity will be found to have a very. great length of wear, which is It will be understood, of course, that the shoe soles thus formed may be given any desired color by applying thereto, before or afterbeing dried, any desired dyeing ,rnaterial orstain, which may be made to match the color orshade iof the particular shoe v being soled, V 'w AS h .W n Fi tea st t i s, i i t odu n the sole'piece in one cloth envelope and the heel piece wedge 9 in another cloth envelope 11, both said felt pieces 5 and 9 may be introduced into one and the same piece of terry cloth, or any other fabric made of fibrous material, to form an envelope 18, and the procedure with this envelope 18 may be substantially the same as in the making, treatment, impregnation, applying and cementing of the sole piece 5 as shown in Fig. 7. In this instance, however, the two felt pieces 5 and 9, after impregnation as above described, etc., are superimposed and placed within the one cloth envelope 18 after which the cut-off tucked surface of the envelope 18 is secured or cemented to the shoe in the same way as above described, by merely using thick latex and plaster of Paris in case the sole is being applied to a Murray process shoe, but in case the sole is being applied to a leather shoe the bonding is brought about by applying a neoprene or other cement to produce the tacky surface as above described. The envelope 18 acts as a seal for the pieces 5 and 9.

A conducting metal thread 19 may be inserted through the bottom of the shoe in either of the shoe soles above described.

While I have described my invention above in detail I wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the same.

' I claim:

1. A wet shoe sole comprising a latex-impregnated fabric envelope completely enclosing While wet a wet sheet of felted fibres so as to seal said sheet which has been completely impregnated with latex and contains pockets.

2. A shoe sole comprising a latex-impregnated fabric envelope completely enclosing a sheet of felted fibres so as to seal said sheet which has been completely impregnated with latex, said felted fibres enclosing interconnected air pockets confined by the latex-impregnated fabric envelope.

3. A shoe having a ground sole onto which sole there is applied and intimately bonded and conformed a wet shoe sole comprising a latex-impregnated fabric envelope completely enclosing while wet a wet sheet of felted fibres so as to seal said sheet which has been completely impregnated with latex and contains air pockets.

4. A shoe having a ground sole onto which sole there is applied and intimately bonded and conformed a wet shoe sole and a heel piece each comprising a lateximpregnated fabric envelope completely enclosing while wet a wet sheet of felted fibres so as to seal said sheet which has been completely impregnated with latex and contains air pockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 81,740 Bishop et a1 Sept. 1, 1868 1,716,790 Mitchell June 11, 1929 2,050,751 Enos Aug. 11, 1936 2,067,963 Joyce Jan. 19, 1937 2,333,303 Enos Nov. 2, 1943 2,568,291 Murray Sept. 18, 1951 

1. A WET SHOE SOLE COMPRISING A LATEX-IMPREGNATED FABRIC ENVELOPE COMPLETELY ENCLOSING WHILE WET A WET SHEET OF FELTED FIBERS SO AS TO SEAL SAID SHEET WHICH HAS BEEN COMPLETELY IMPREGNATED WITH LATEX AND CONTAINS AIR POCKETS. 